The father of a Taylor Swift fan who died in Brazil while attending an Eras Tour show has released a heartbreaking statement.
Ana Clara Benevides reportedly fainted in the front row before Swift arrived on stage, and suffered a cardiac arrest.
It’s reported that she was “resuscitated at the stadium for about 40 minutes” before suffering a second cardiac arrest while on the way to a hospital as other fans remaining in the stadium struggled to handle the heat, with some suffering second-degree burns due to metal flooring conducting heat.
Benevides’ father Weiny Machado, 53, told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that his daughter “went to fulfil a dream” by seeing Swift only to “come back dead”.
He also demanded answers regarding reports that fans had been denied the right to bring water bottles into the venue.
“I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance,” Machado told the paper. “I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl. She was about to graduate in psychology next April, saving money. I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfil a dream and came back dead.”
Throughout the show, Swift was seen pausing on multiple occasions to try and get water bottles given to fans near the stage. And she herself was seen appearing to struggle to breathe mid-performance.
Following news of the fan’s death, Swift took to social media after her concert to share a statement.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” Swift announced on social media.
“There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.
“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from the stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply, and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Since reports of the fan’s tragic death first emerged, numerous other fans have taken to social media and alleged they suffered “second and third-degree burns” due to the scorching heat and the stadium’s temporary metal flooring.